Chapter Summaries

Key plot points and events

• After returning to the Xianzhou Luofu, Scott keeps his promise to bark like a dog after losing the Aurum Alley port dispute. The spectators, including Zhang Xiu, Yaoshi, March 7th, and Sushang, laugh at him. The dispute is effectively settled, and Stelle leaves the port to run itself.
• Zhang Xiu and Yaoshi have been tinkering with Herta’s doll, Shuxue, whose programming refuses Zhang Xiu’s command to drink Himeko’s coffee. Stelle has returned her own Kafka doll after visiting Kafka and the injured Blade.
• Stelle invites Zhang Xiu and Yaoshi to Fyxestroll Garden after hearing reports that it is haunted. March is unavailable, and Dan Heng is still gloomy, so the trio goes to investigate.
• They meet streamer Guinaifen, who shares footage of her and Sushang’s frightening visit to the garden. The video shows spirit fire, the two women screaming, and Sushang collapsing. It ends with a green-haired woman gently asking the apparently “dead” Sushang to get up.

Character developments

• Stelle remains a relaxed, hands-off boss and eagerly seeks out the haunted-garden mystery.
• Zhang Xiu is playful and trouble-loving, but also matter-of-fact about the possibility of ghosts. He treats Shuxue like a companion, despite its mechanical nature.
• Yaoshi enthusiastically joins the investigation and shares Zhang Xiu’s belief that supernatural beings exist.
• Shuxue displays independent, rule-bound behavior, rejecting an order it deems harmful and mimicking Zhang Xiu’s farewell.
• Guinaifen and Sushang are shown as nervous but determined amateur investigators; Sushang’s fear undercuts her confidence as a Cloud Knight.

Significant themes

• Comedy amid the supernatural: The supposed haunting is introduced through exaggerated livestream antics and frightened reactions.
• Technology and personhood: Shuxue’s protocols and imitation of Zhang Xiu suggest a doll capable of more than simple obedience.
• Curiosity and courage: The group investigates the paranormal despite uncertainty, while Guinaifen and Sushang struggle to act brave.

Character interactions

• The crowd’s teasing turns Scott’s humiliation into a shared joke, even winning laughter from Sushang.
• Zhang Xiu jokes with Shuxue about Himeko’s coffee, while the doll answers with precise, mechanical reasoning.
• Stelle recruits Zhang Xiu and Yaoshi, and Guinaifen welcomes them as fellow paranormal enthusiasts.
• In Guinaifen’s footage, she chastises Sushang for being scared; Sushang insists her swordsmanship cannot fight formless enemies, then panics when spirit fire appears.

Plot points and events

• After watching Guinaifen’s video, Stelle recognizes Sushang, whom Guinaifen says was her first friend on the Xianzhou. The group introduces themselves in playful “hero” fashion; Yaoshi briefly manifests extra hands, but Guinaifen assumes she is tired and misses it.
• Zhang Xiu identifies the figures in the footage as judges of the Ten-Lords Commission, an authority with exceptional power over matters involving the mara-struck. Guinaifen suspects something unusual is happening at Fyxestroll Garden and invites the others to investigate with her.
• The group enters the gloomy, supposedly haunted garden. Guinaifen shares its history as a Foxian retreat and describes the heavy casualties suffered there during the war thirty years earlier. Stelle’s eerie background music briefly adds to the atmosphere before she switches it off.
• A Heliobus named Qin Che tries to possess Zhang Xiu. Though Qin Che fondly remembers a lost pig-person companion, it now seeks to consume people’s emotions. Zhang Xiu kills it with a single slap, barely interrupting the group’s walk.
• As Guinaifen films the ruins, Zhang Xiu pulls her back near a fork in the path, warning that someone is ahead.

Character developments and interactions

• Guinaifen is energetic and curious, eager to investigate and film the garden despite her nervousness. She shares her connection to Sushang and tries to keep the group cautious.
• Stelle recognizes Sushang and jokes about her phone being a “Stellaron,” briefly misleading Guinaifen.
• Zhang Xiu is knowledgeable about the Ten-Lords Commission and unfazed by the garden’s atmosphere or the Heliobus attack. He protects Guinaifen when he notices a presence ahead.
• Yaoshi casually displays an unnatural extra hand, which Guinaifen fails to notice.
• Qin Che is introduced as both predatory and oddly sentimental: it remembers a deceased companion but still pursues possession for emotional sustenance.

Significant themes

• Comedy amid horror: The eerie setting and supernatural threats are repeatedly undercut by jokes and the group’s casual confidence.
• The persistence of grief and memory: Qin Che’s recollection of its lost companion contrasts with its present-day hunger for others’ emotions.
• Hidden danger beneath appearances: The garden’s desolation, the judges’ unexplained activity, Yaoshi’s concealed oddity, and the presence ahead all suggest that the group has not yet uncovered what is really happening.

Key plot points and events

• Zhang Xiu, Yaoshi, Guinaifen, and Stelle sneak through Fyxestroll Garden. Yaoshi uses vines to immobilize Artisanship Commission constructs, while Zhang Xiu realizes they have likely been noticed and allows events to unfold.
• Netherworld Officers confront the group. Zhang Xiu quickly knocks several unconscious, but more arrive with Golden Automaton Soul Reapers.
• Three Ten-Lords Commission judges—Hanya, Xueyi, and the timid Huohuo—stop the officers from attacking and question the intruders.
• Hanya identifies Guinaifen and learns she returned to film supposed ghosts for her channel. Xueyi dismisses the idea that ghosts exist on the Xianzhou; Huohuo gently tries to explain that the strange beings Guinaifen saw are not what she assumes.
• Zhang Xiu and Yaoshi become distracted by Huohuo’s cuteness and begin teasing her. Huohuo panics, and the creature emerging from her flaming tail tries to frighten them off—only to prompt Guinaifen to scream about seeing a ghost.

Character developments

• Zhang Xiu is confident and physically formidable, but deliberately lets the group be caught to advance his plans. He is also openly affectionate toward Yaoshi and playful toward Huohuo.
• Yaoshi demonstrates powerful control over plants and shares Zhang Xiu’s mischievous affection, though she plays innocent when noticed.
• Guinaifen remains energetic and proud of her streaming work, but is easily startled and stubbornly convinced that the strange phenomena are ghosts.
• Huohuo is introduced as deeply timid and easily frightened, especially by Zhang Xiu and Yaoshi’s attention. Her concern for Guinaifen nonetheless makes her speak up.
• Hanya appears composed and authoritative, while Xueyi is stern and skeptical of ghost stories.

Significant themes

• Appearance versus reality: The group’s “ghosts” are misunderstood phenomena, while Huohuo’s supernatural-looking tail and companion are treated as cute rather than frightening by Zhang Xiu and Yaoshi.
• Fear and misunderstanding: Guinaifen’s assumptions and Huohuo’s anxiety contrast with the judges’ matter-of-fact explanations.
• Affection and comedy: Zhang Xiu and Yaoshi’s playful intimacy creates humor amid the tense arrest and investigation.

Character interactions

• Hanya questions Guinaifen and the others with formal authority; Guinaifen protests being labeled unemployed and defends her work as a streamer.
• Xueyi and Huohuo try to correct Guinaifen’s belief in ghosts, while Guinaifen insists she witnessed something supernatural.
• Zhang Xiu and Yaoshi flirt briefly, then gang up—playfully—on Huohuo, whose panic brings her tail-creature forward. Its attempt to protect her only heightens the confusion.

Plot points and events

• Hanya and Xueyi separate Huohuo from Zhang Xiu and Yaoshi. The group learns that Mr. Tail is a heliobus, not a conventional ghost.
• Zhang Xiu and Yaoshi tease the easily frightened Huohuo, though Mr. Tail protects her and warns them off. Zhang Xiu eventually apologizes, but admits he finds her cuteness and fearfulness irresistible.
• Guinaifen gets the explanation she wanted. The group prepares to leave Fyxestroll Garden, with Huohuo guiding them and Mr. Tail attached to her tail.
• On the way out, the quiet surroundings make Huohuo uneasy. Guinaifen cries out after falling under a spirit illusion, and Zhang Xiu and Yaoshi deliberately let themselves be vulnerable to possession.
• Guinaifen disappears, followed by Huohuo and Stelle. Zhang Xiu and Yaoshi remain together. Yaoshi raises a barrier and makes clear that she wants intimacy with her husband.
• The chapter ends from Fuyan’s perspective: the heliobus has separated the group in hopes of possessing a powerful host, but is confused that Zhang Xiu and Yaoshi can still see one another—and then seem to vanish from its sight.

Character developments and interactions

• Huohuo remains timid but shows resolve: she carries out her duties, asks the group to stay close, and pushes back against Mr. Tail’s complaints.
• Mr. Tail acts as Huohuo’s fierce, protective defender, despite their bickering.
• Zhang Xiu and Yaoshi share playful teasing and an intimate, trusting relationship. They knowingly allow the supernatural threat to approach, apparently out of curiosity.
• Stelle is comparatively calm and considerate toward Huohuo, while Guinaifen is curious and eager to include Mr. Tail in a photo—until the illusion frightens her.

Significant themes

• Fear and protection: Huohuo’s anxiety contrasts with Mr. Tail’s protectiveness and the group’s teasing.
• Illusion and vulnerability: Fuyan exploits fear to divide the travelers, while Zhang Xiu and Yaoshi willingly lower their defenses.
• Affection and intimacy: Yaoshi’s desire and the couple’s closeness provide a humorous, personal counterpoint to the looming danger.

Key plot points and events

• After an intimate reunion with Yaoshi, Zhang Xiu leaves her and wanders through Fuyan’s illusions, allowing the Heliobus to possess his body.
• Fuyan revels in Zhang Xiu’s strength and boasts that it could defeat the Luofu’s general, Jing Yuan, then plans to recruit other Heliobi to help it.
• Zhang Xiu remains conscious and in control beneath the possession. He lets Fuyan believe it has taken over, while noting that he could expel it at any time and that it is no match for an Emanator.
• Fuyan approaches Stelle, Huohuo, and Yaoshi while impersonating Zhang Xiu, claiming Guinaifen has likely been eaten. The remark frightens Huohuo.
• When Fuyan moves toward the group, Yaoshi attacks the possessed body with vines, destroying much of it and forcing Fuyan out. Zhang Xiu’s Abundance power quickly repairs the damage.
• Yaoshi then embraces Zhang Xiu, leaving the others confused by the sudden shift from attacking him to welcoming him. Tail recognizes the intruder as Fuyan, and Huohuo realizes a Heliobus had possessed Zhang Xiu.

Character developments

• Zhang Xiu shows confidence in his overwhelming strength and uses his awareness of the possession to let Fuyan expose itself. His teasing attitude also surfaces in his exchange with Yaoshi.
• Yaoshi is affectionate toward Zhang Xiu but fiercely protective of him, reacting with disgust to anything else occupying his body.
• Fuyan is arrogant and opportunistic, mistaking Zhang Xiu’s cooperation for genuine helplessness.
• Huohuo becomes increasingly frightened by Fuyan’s threats, while Tail demonstrates his experience by quickly identifying the Heliobus.

Significant themes

• Power and deception: Fuyan believes it controls Zhang Xiu, but Zhang Xiu is merely letting it play along.
• Possession and identity: The scene distinguishes between outward control of a body and the consciousness and power still present within it.
• Love expressed through protection: Yaoshi’s violent intervention contrasts with her tender embrace of Zhang Xiu.
• The gap between mortals and Emanators: Zhang Xiu’s thoughts emphasize how far beings of Emanator-level power stand above ordinary opponents.

Character interactions

• Zhang Xiu and Yaoshi share a playful, intimate farewell before separating.
• Zhang Xiu silently observes and taunts Fuyan from within his own body, while Fuyan dismisses his warnings.
• Fuyan’s impersonation frightens Huohuo and draws Yaoshi’s attention.
• Yaoshi attacks the possessed Zhang Xiu to drive Fuyan out, then immediately embraces her husband; Tail and Huohuo help the group understand what happened.

Key plot points and events

• Fuyan, the heliobus inside Zhang Xiu, wakes after being knocked unconscious when Zhang restored his body. It emerges as a huge eyeball of spirit fire and argues with Mr. Tail, another heliobus fragment.
• Fuyan asks Zhang Xiu for help, explaining that the heliobi have gathered in Fyxestroll Garden to reunite and challenge a Luofu general. More than a thousand years ago, their collective form, Liaoyuan, fought General Teng Xiao here.
• Fuyan claims Liaoyuan fought Teng Xiao to a deadlock, but Huohuo’s account of Ten-Lords Commission records says Liaoyuan was defeated. Fuyan insists the official history is biased, while Zhang Xiu and Yaoshi dismiss its boasting.
• Stelle asks how Mr. Tail came to be with Huohuo. Huohuo recalls finding him as a dying spirit flame and placing him on her tail; he tried to eat her, but judges intervened. Mr. Tail insists she exaggerates how dangerous the incident was.
• Fuyan mocks Huohuo, prompting Zhang Xiu to knock it away and the others to comfort her. Stelle and Zhang Xiu offer friendship; Yaoshi theatrically presents himself and Zhang as her “safe harbor.”
• Asked why heliobi keep challenging Xianzhou generals, Fuyan says the Xianzhou’s imprisonment of the Ember Lord gives them cause. Zhang points out that the heliobi have little chance against the Xianzhou’s current strength. Fuyan blames past defeat on a “dirty trick,” and Zhang calls it a brat.

Character developments and interactions

• Fuyan is revealed as proud, combative, and deeply fixated on Liaoyuan’s defeat and the chance to fight the Luofu again. Its bravado contrasts with its powerlessness inside Zhang Xiu.
• Zhang Xiu remains irreverent, repeatedly calling Fuyan a “scrub” or “dumbass,” but also protects and reassures Huohuo.
• Mr. Tail and Fuyan trade insults, each attacking the other’s status and history. Mr. Tail also teases Huohuo, though she pushes back timidly.
• Huohuo shares a painful memory and shows both fear and affection toward Mr. Tail. Her friends’ support helps her feel less alone.
• Stelle keeps asking direct questions, while Yaoshi adds affectionate, theatrical commentary. Their exchanges with Zhang create much of the chapter’s comedy.

Significant themes

• Pride versus reality: Fuyan’s heroic account clashes with historical records and its own weakness.
• Grudges and inherited conflict: The heliobi’s desire to challenge the Xianzhou is tied to the old defeat of Liaoyuan and the imprisonment of the Ember Lord.
• Power and captivity: Fuyan and the Ember Lord illustrate the heliobi’s limited agency under Xianzhou control.
• Companionship and protection: Despite teasing, the group rallies around Huohuo, emphasizing care amid comic conflict.

Plot points and events

• Fuyan tries to recruit Mr. Tail, promising freedom and a return beyond the heavens. Mr. Tail dismisses the offer, and Huohuo warns Fuyan that he cannot escape his seal—or the group.
• After Fuyan’s illusion vanishes, the group finds a room blocked by a crate puzzle. Zhang Xiu avoids solving it by smashing through the obstruction with brute force.
• A mirror leads the group to Xueyi, who explains that an unknown power has swallowed Fyxestroll Garden. The judges have not found Guinaifen, and Xueyi urges Huohuo’s party to escape the illusion through the mirror.
• The mirror instead transports them to a mountaintop filled with more mirrors. Zhang Xiu decides to destroy the illusion with his Path power, assuring Huohuo that he can keep it from harming Xueyi.
• As Zhang Xiu prepares, Huohuo feels ashamed that she needed rescuing. Stelle, Yaoshi, and even Mr. Tail reassure her that fear and weakness do not define her worth.
• Zhang Xiu unleashes Black Flame, which consumes the mountain and begins burning away the false sky. The group watches in silence.

Character developments and interactions

• Fuyan’s bitterness toward humanity and its own desires remains evident, but its attempt to manipulate Mr. Tail fails.
• Zhang Xiu continues to favor overwhelming strength over puzzles, and his confidence borders on boastfulness. His power proves capable of destroying the illusion on a vast scale.
• Huohuo is frightened and self-critical, but the others’ support restores her spirits. Mr. Tail resists her emotional gratitude, maintaining their teasing, uneasy bond.
• Stelle and Yaoshi show care for Huohuo, while Xueyi acts as a concerned ally trying to guide the group to safety.

Significant themes

• Self-acceptance: Huohuo is reminded that timidity is not a moral failing and that worth is not measured by strength.
• Power and responsibility: Zhang Xiu uses extraordinary force, but takes care to direct it away from the people he wants to protect.
• Illusion versus reality: The shifting mirrors and false landscape emphasize the group’s struggle to escape a deceptive, unstable world.
• Blame and desire: Fuyan blames humanity for its own changed nature, while Mr. Tail’s response exposes the weakness of that excuse.

Plot points and events

• Zhang Xiu breaks Huiyan’s illusion over Fyxestroll Garden, returning the group to reality. Xueyi confirms they are safe, though Guinaifen is missing.
• Zhang Xiu reveals that Fuyan, another fragment of Liaoyuan, had possessed him. He pulls it out, then—after joking about being possessed—puts it back inside.
• Xueyi explains that Huiyan has taken the Garden’s Netherworld Messengers out of contact. She warns Huohuo that she may have to face the Heliobus if Xueyi and Hanya cannot stop it.
• Zhang Xiu and Yaoshi encourage Huohuo not to rely on others and to become stronger herself. After wavering, Huohuo gathers her resolve and asks what to do next.
• Xueyi gives Zhang Xiu a Ten-Lords Commission gourd that can seal Heliobus fragments. He and Yaoshi leave to confront Huiyan.
• Frightened by Zhang Xiu’s power, Huiyan scatters its fragments among controlled Netherworld Officers. Zhang Xiu knocks the fragments out of the officers, while Yaoshi collects them in the gourd. The possessed officers collapse unconscious.
• Huiyan’s fragments flee from Zhang Xiu as he presses the attack. Though puzzled by their retreat, he continues pursuing them.

Character developments

• Huohuo begins terrified by the prospect of confronting a powerful Heliobus, but remembers earlier encouragement and manages to take initiative by asking for a plan. Her confidence remains fragile, but she shows determination.
• Zhang Xiu demonstrates overwhelming strength and treats the rescue as a straightforward task. Beneath his theatrics, he directly challenges Huohuo to build her own ability to protect others.
• Huiyan is revealed to be powerful but emotionally immature: fear and repeated setbacks drive it to scatter and flee.
• Xueyi recognizes Zhang Xiu’s usefulness and adapts the Ten-Lords Commission’s response around his strength.

Significant themes

• Self-reliance and growth: Zhang Xiu and Yaoshi stress that Huohuo cannot always depend on others.
• Fear and vulnerability: Huiyan’s terror undermines its confidence, while Huohuo must act despite her own fear.
• Power and responsibility: Zhang Xiu’s strength makes the immediate crisis easier, but the chapter questions what Huohuo will do when such help is unavailable.
• Comedy amid danger: Zhang Xiu and Yaoshi’s exaggerated “possession” routine contrasts with the real threat facing the Garden.

Character interactions

• Xueyi questions Zhang Xiu about the illusion and later entrusts him with the sealing gourd.
• Huohuo warmly greets Xueyi, then looks to Zhang Xiu and Yaoshi for reassurance before being urged to rely less on others.
• Mr. Tail scolds Huohuo for her helplessness, though he has little answer when she points out how much she depends on him.
• Zhang Xiu and Yaoshi play along with a mock-spousal drama about possession, irritating Fuyan and amusing or bewildering the onlookers.
• Zhang Xiu and Yaoshi work together against Huiyan: he frees the controlled officers, and she seals the fragments.

Plot points

• Zhang Xiu quickly gathers all of Huiyan’s fragments into a gourd while the others are still making their way through Fyxestroll Garden.
• After some teasing, Xueyi explains that Heliobi cannot normally be killed; sealing them is the safer option. Zhang Xiu argues he could destroy one with his power, frightening Fuyan into abandoning its bravado.
• Fuyan begs not to be sealed, but Yaoshi uses the gourd to capture it. With Huiyan and Fuyan contained, the main crisis is over; the Ten-Lords Commission can handle the cleanup.
• Zhang Xiu and Yaoshi invite Stelle and Huohuo to eat. Huohuo initially hesitates because of work, but Xueyi and Mr. Tail encourage her to take a break.
• Zhang Xiu senses he has forgotten something but shrugs it off. Elsewhere, Guinaifen wakes alone in the garden, encounters a Heliobus, remembers what happened, and screams.

Character developments and interactions

• Zhang Xiu remains overwhelmingly confident and playful, using his power to remove Heliobi without endangering their hosts. He also openly dotes on Yaoshi.
• Yaoshi joins in teasing the others and takes charge of sealing Fuyan, showing a mischievous side alongside her affection for Zhang Xiu.
• Fuyan shifts from smug and confrontational to terrified and pleading after witnessing Zhang Xiu’s strength.
• Huohuo is embarrassed by Zhang Xiu and Yaoshi’s flirtation, but bravely defends Mr. Tail when Fuyan mocks him. She eventually accepts an invitation to rest and eat.
• Xueyi stays practical, explaining the danger of trying to kill Heliobi and helping Huohuo recognize that she deserves time off.
• Stelle reacts with bemusement to the couple’s antics, while Mr. Tail shields Huohuo and urges her to stop being so timid.

Significant themes

• Power and compassion: Zhang Xiu’s strength lets him defeat Heliobi while healing any humans harmed in the process.
• Fear and survival: Fuyan’s sudden submission shows how quickly confidence gives way when its usual leverage no longer works.
• Rest and companionship: The group’s invitation to Huohuo emphasizes care and friendship beyond their duties.
• Comic contrast: The apparent happy ending is undercut by Guinaifen’s frightening encounter with a Heliobus, suggesting the cleanup—and the chaos—is not entirely over.

Plot points and events

• After leaving Fyxestroll Garden, the group realizes Guinaifen may still be inside. She messages them to return, explaining that a Netherworld Officer found her and that she is unharmed.
• Hanya summons the group to Fyxestroll Garden to recruit them into a Ten-Lords Commission task force tasked with tracking down heliobi that escaped after the Crucible shattered.
• To make the garden less oppressive, Zhang Xiu creates a small sun overhead. The others are amazed, though he treats the feat casually.
• Hanya establishes the Special Task Force for Handling Heliobus Escape Incidents, soon nicknamed the Ghost-Hunting Squad. Huohuo, Sushang, Stelle, Zhang Xiu, Yaoshi, and Guinaifen are invited to help capture heliobi; the team will receive startup funds and payment for each assignment.
• Sushang questions why Guinaifen, a civilian, should be included. Hanya explains that Guinaifen’s livestreaming skills can publicize the team and attract reports of supernatural incidents. Guinaifen embraces the role enthusiastically.
• After Hanya leaves, Tail appears. Sushang is terrified at first, but Zhang Xiu explains that Tail is a heliobus, and she gradually calms down.
• The team begins its briefing: most escaped heliobi are expected to head for populated areas, where they may cause unexplained paranormal events. Guinaifen is ready to put her skills to work.

Character developments and interactions

• Zhang Xiu casually uses Abundance power to brighten the garden, showing both his extraordinary abilities and his concern for how uncomfortable the place feels. Yaoshi protects him when the others stare.
• Guinaifen is confirmed safe and gains a meaningful role in the task force. Her confidence, ambition, and enthusiasm for publicity clash playfully with Sushang’s doubts.
• Sushang initially doubts Guinaifen’s usefulness and is then comically frightened by Tail, but she recovers once she understands what he is.
• Huohuo accepts responsibility for leading the group but remains timid, especially when others teasingly call her “Lady Huohuo.” Tail continues to mock her.
• The group’s banter—especially the teasing among Guinaifen, Sushang, Huohuo, and Tail—helps turn an official recruitment meeting into a lively, informal team gathering.

Significant themes

• Cooperation through different strengths: The task force brings together officials, fighters, outsiders, and a civilian whose social-media skills can help locate threats.
• Fear and adaptation: Sushang’s reaction to Tail shows how frightening the supernatural can be, but familiarity and explanation help her adjust.
• Practicality and service: The mission is framed as public safety work, supported by official funding and clear rewards.
• Light amid unease: Zhang Xiu’s sun offers a literal contrast to the garden’s oppressive atmosphere, echoing the group’s effort to bring order and reassurance to a troubling situation.

Key plot points and events

• Guinaifen’s new paranormal-investigation website is introduced, though she worries that online reports may be unreliable.
• The group finds a post claiming Bailu vanished while an Alchemy Commission healer tried to catch her. They decide to investigate, but Huohuo first argues they should learn more about the Heliobus and its abilities.
• Huohuo suggests questioning Fuyan, a Heliobus already in their custody. Zhang Xiu’s display of Black Flame makes the others confident Fuyan will cooperate.
• Guinaifen asks Zhang Xiu and Yaoshi for an interview. Instead of discussing paranormal matters, she plans to ask about Pathstriders and Emanators—subjects the public knows little about.
• Guinaifen starts a sensationally titled livestream with Zhang Xiu and Yaoshi. Zhang Xiu appears without his mask, introduces himself as a Nameless, and presents his Train Ticket; Yaoshi greets viewers while sitting in his lap.
• Viewers doubt Zhang Xiu’s claim to be a top-tier Pathstrider and question how much he contributed to defeating Phantylia. One viewer recognizes Yaoshi as familiar.

Character developments

• Guinaifen shows ambition as a new platform creator, using a high-profile interview to attract viewers while trying to establish her site’s credibility.
• Huohuo acts cautiously and professionally, prioritizing information about the Heliobus before the rescue effort.
• Zhang Xiu is eager to be interviewed and become famous, but briefly worries that intimidating Fuyan makes the group seem villainous. He presents himself confidently on camera.
• Yaoshi is openly affectionate and excited by the idea of revealing their relationship to the public.
• Stelle and the others are intrigued by the prospect of hearing about Paths and Emanators firsthand; Sushang is uneasy about coercing Fuyan.

Significant themes

• Truth and rumor online: The group struggles to distinguish genuine paranormal reports from fabrications, while the livestream’s bold claims attract immediate skepticism.
• Public knowledge and power: Paths, Pathstriders, and Emanators are mysterious topics, and the public’s limited understanding fuels speculation.
• Identity and recognition: Zhang Xiu appears unmasked, confident that few will believe anyone who identifies him; Yaoshi’s identity is likewise assumed too extraordinary for viewers to accept.
• Fame and spectacle: Guinaifen’s promotional title and the audience’s reactions show how attention-grabbing claims can overshadow substance.

Character interactions

• Huohuo advises the group to gather intelligence; Zhang Xiu’s threat of Black Flame reassures them that Fuyan will comply.
• Sushang questions whether pressuring Fuyan is appropriate, while Stelle backs Zhang Xiu based on Fuyan’s earlier behavior.
• Guinaifen interviews Zhang Xiu and Yaoshi, who play along enthusiastically.
• The livestream audience challenges their credentials, and Guinaifen defends Zhang Xiu by citing his role in the battle against Phantylia.

Key plot points and events

• During Guinaifen’s livestream, Zhang Xiu answers questions about the Paths. He says people become Pathstriders by following their deepest wishes with unwavering conviction—not by being strong or deliberately trying to qualify.
• Asked how to become an Emanator, Zhang Xiu explains that Pathstriders, Emanators, and Aeons share a commitment to their own Paths. He also reveals a dangerous shortcut: absorbing a vast amount of power associated with one’s Path. Without the necessary body and will, however, this could cause death or madness.
• Zhang Xiu’s explanation prompts an immediate stream ban, as the information could encourage dangerous behavior. Li Ge, watching from afar, fears the Skydeep will misuse it: some members already resent their short lives, and cannibalism has occurred within the clan.
• Li Ge calls Zhang Xiu to report that unrest has escalated and someone has been eaten. Zhang Xiu drops his playful mood and vows to crush the rebellion himself.

Character developments

• Zhang Xiu presents himself as immensely powerful but clarifies that his strength comes mainly from his unusual body and Abundance-related aid, not exceptional progress along the Preservation Path. When told of the Skydeep crisis, he turns immediately to decisive action.
• Li Ge proves alert to the political danger of Zhang Xiu’s words and acts quickly to seek help.
• Guinaifen manages the crowded livestream and recognizes why the discussion must be shut down.
• Sushang remains present during the conversation; Zhang Xiu has just been joking with her and sharing Jing Yuan’s contact details before the crisis interrupts.

Significant themes

• Conviction and identity: Progress along a Path depends on steadfastly pursuing one’s own road.
• Power’s cost: The shortcut to Emanator status demands enormous power and can destroy those unprepared to bear it.
• Knowledge and responsibility: Publicly sharing dangerous truths can have consequences beyond the speaker’s control.
• Ambition and moral decay: The Skydeep’s desire to overcome short lifespans is fueling cannibalism and unrest.

Character interactions

• Zhang Xiu answers Guinaifen’s questions while Yaoshi rests beside him, and he strokes her hair as he considers the Emanator question.
• He jokes with Sushang before taking Li Ge’s call.
• Li Ge’s urgent warning shifts Zhang Xiu from lighthearted banter to a grim promise of intervention.

Key plot points and events

• Two Skydeep conspirators discuss using the teachings of Zhang Xiu—partner of the Lord of Longevity—to rally their people and make them stronger. Their plan is to twist his Pathstrider guidance into a justification for eating other Skydeep people.
• A powerful man refuses, believing cannibalism violates the Lord of Longevity’s ideals. The conspirators reject his objections, and a white-haired man kills him by tearing out his heart.
• The dead man’s Abundance blessing revives his body as a mara-struck creature. It attacks the white-haired killer, and the two fight through the city until the mara-struck man dies.
• When Cloud Knights arrive, the white-haired man claims he acted in self-defense. The Knights discover the victim’s heart was removed and arrest him. He blames Zhang Xiu, but a Knight silences him for slandering Zhang and the Lord of Longevity.
• A crowd blocks the Knights’ way. A boy admits that he wants power, battle, and the chance to become a hero. The crowd’s pent-up aggression erupts into mass violence, echoing the Xianzhou’s past Life Calamity.
• As the killing spreads, a black-haired, black-eyed man carrying a black greatsword descends from the sky and stops the slaughter.

Character developments

• The slain man is shown to be strong but guided by principle: he wants power, yet refuses to gain it through cannibalism.
• The white-haired killer is consumed by ambition and religious fervor, treating violence as a route to strength and the Lord of Longevity’s favor. After being exposed, he tries to shift blame onto Zhang Xiu.
• The boy voices the crowd’s conflicted desire: he understands the wrongdoing but longs for strength and heroism.
• The Cloud Knights attempt to investigate and contain the incident, but their authority is challenged by the gathered crowd.

Significant themes

• Corruption of faith: Zhang Xiu’s teachings are distorted to legitimize cruelty.
• Power and moral compromise: The Skydeep’s desire to overcome weakness and short lives feeds a willingness to consume one another.
• Resentment and violence: Suppressed anger at displacement and a natural appetite for conflict drive the Skydeep toward a calamity like the Xianzhou’s past.
• Cycles of catastrophe: The outbreak repeats the pattern of the earlier Life Calamity, suggesting that knowing one’s actions are wrong may not be enough to stop them.

Character interactions

• The three conspirators’ discussion ends in betrayal: the principled man is killed by the white-haired ally they had brought with them.
• The white-haired man attacks the revived victim, then deceives the Cloud Knights about how the fight began.
• The Cloud Knights confront and arrest him, while onlookers gather and ultimately obstruct them.
• The boy’s admission reflects the crowd’s shared desires, and the newly erupted violence is halted only by the arrival of the black-haired swordsman.

Key plot points and events

• Zhang Xiu arrives in a cavern realm where Skydeep have erupted into a violent frenzy, killing one another and consuming the dead. He stops the most dangerous fighter and binds the crowd with vines.
• Using his Path Power, he suppresses their agitation. Rather than let them reach for Yaoshi’s golden prayer bead—which could further inflame their desire for its power—he destroys it and absorbs its energy.
• Zhang Xiu challenges the Skydeep: defeat him and they may take his heart; lose and they must accept restraint and serve in the Cloud Knights. He defeats the entire crowd, using controlled force to restrain them without killing them.
• He orders the survivors to clean up the devastation and says he will arrange for willing Skydeep to join campaigns against the Abominations of Abundance. Three Cloud Knights also arrest the white-haired man who helped ignite the conflict.
• At the Seat of Divine Foresight, Zhang Xiu proposes a new department to assign Skydeep to dangerous work. Jing Yuan agrees, and Zhang names Li Ge and Chen Chang’an as its leaders.

Character developments

• Zhang Xiu shows both grief for his former kin and firm resolve to stop their violence. He uses their appetite for combat to redirect them toward useful service, while treating the aftermath with blunt, irreverent humor.
• The Skydeep are shown to be fiercely competitive, battle-hungry, and difficult to kill, but not wholly without limits: most avoided harming children. Once restrained, many appear shaken and regretful.
• Jing Yuan remains pragmatic and receptive, recognizing Zhang’s proposal as a practical way to manage the Skydeep and put them to use.

Significant themes

• Restraint versus destructive instinct: Power can suppress the Skydeep’s frenzy, but lasting order will require structure and purpose.
• Violence redirected toward service: Their combativeness may be dangerous, yet the Xianzhou can channel it into campaigns against shared enemies.
• Kinship and responsibility: Zhang Xiu is pained by the Skydeep’s slaughter of their own, but insists the survivors face consequences.
• Integration and trust: The proposed department represents a step toward incorporating the Skydeep into Xianzhou society while acknowledging the risks they pose.

Character interactions

• Zhang Xiu confronts the Skydeep directly, offers them a challenge, and then assigns them cleanup and potential military service.
• The Cloud Knights insist on arresting the white-haired instigator despite his protests, emphasizing that Zhang’s intervention does not erase individual accountability.
• Zhang and Jing Yuan speak with the ease of old friends: Zhang complains, drinks Jing Yuan’s tea, and proposes the new department; Jing Yuan responds with calm approval.

Plot points and events

• Zhang Xiu and Yaoshi meet in Aurum Alley and use Yaoshi’s Path power to reach the Skydeep across the stars. Yaoshi’s blessing alters them: the Skydeep remain devoted, but stop recklessly sacrificing themselves in battle.
• Feixiao notices the Skydeep fighting more cautiously, but welcomes the change as long as they keep attacking the abominations.
• The change attracts the Xianzhou leadership’s attention. Jing Yuan reports it to the Marshal, concerned that Yaoshi could similarly alter other people she has blessed—including Xianzhou natives. He briefly considers visiting Bailu, only to learn she has escaped again.
• After confirming the Skydeep are restrained, Zhang Xiu and Yaoshi rejoin Stelle’s group to hunt the Heliobus. The group has encountered two apparent Bailus, one likely the Heliobus in disguise, and Sushang’s scream has frightened Guinaifen.
• The Heliobus obscures the group’s senses, making the child’s laughter difficult to locate. Zhang Xiu identifies that it is coming from inside a house.

Character developments and interactions

• Yaoshi reflects on how long it has been since she simply watched an ordinary starry night, and finds comfort in her affectionate bond with Zhang Xiu. The two act together to change the Skydeep’s behavior.
• Feixiao remains aggressive and practical in battle, accepting the Skydeep’s new caution so long as they remain effective soldiers.
• Jing Yuan is increasingly wary of Yaoshi’s power and its potential implications for the Xianzhou, though the scene also gives his concern a comic edge through his aches and Bailu’s repeated escapes.
• Sushang and Guinaifen are both unnerved by the Heliobus; Guinaifen hides behind Sushang, who is herself frightened. Zhang Xiu and Yaoshi tease them, while Zhang Xiu takes the lead in tracking the laughter.

Significant themes

• Mercy versus fanaticism: The Skydeep’s devotion remains, but they become less willing to die needlessly.
• The reach and danger of divine power: Yaoshi can influence people across vast distances, raising concerns among the Xianzhou authorities.
• Ordinary beauty and affection: Yaoshi’s quiet appreciation of the stars and her closeness with Zhang Xiu offer a personal counterpoint to cosmic power and warfare.
• Fear and perception: The Heliobus manipulates the group’s senses, while the lively, ordinary street setting makes the unseen laughter feel especially eerie.

Key plot points and events

• The group locates a doorway concealing a Heliobus illusion. Zhang Xiu and Yaoshi can enter without help, while Huohuo uses her magical bell to let the others through.
• Inside, they encounter a convincing scene of Zhang Xiu dead, with a severed arm, and Yaoshi apparently dead beneath him. Huohuo panics, Guinaifen is terrified, and Sushang and Stelle cautiously investigate.
• Stelle discovers Zhang Xiu is alive and burns his backside to expose the prank. He jumps into a pool to put out the fire; Yaoshi gets up, laughing. The blood is real, and Zhang Xiu reattaches his arm.
• Huohuo faints from fright. After she wakes, Zhang Xiu and Yaoshi briefly pretend to be dead again, further exasperating the group.
• Bailu and the Heliobus A-Zhuo are hiding nearby. Zhang Xiu spots them and tells Bailu she can keep playing rather than insisting she return immediately. Sushang worries about leaving her with a Heliobus, but Zhang Xiu says it is fine.

Character developments and interactions

• Zhang Xiu and Yaoshi reveal a mischievous, theatrical side, using their apparent deaths to draw Bailu out. Their calm confidence contrasts with everyone else’s terror.
• Huohuo is overwhelmed by the illusion and faints, though she had tried to guide the group safely inside. Tail comments on her collapse.
• Stelle responds to the apparent tragedy with practical suspicion, testing Zhang Xiu and then using fire to expose him.
• Guinaifen first asks to photograph Huohuo’s bell to promote paranormal reports, then is stunned by how convincing Yaoshi’s “fake” blood is.
• Sushang remains focused on her duty, approaching the apparent victims and later questioning whether Bailu should be left with A-Zhuo.
• Bailu and A-Zhuo have secretly been spending time together. Bailu begins considering returning home, while A-Zhuo reminds her of their promise not to let adults find them or take them back. Zhang Xiu gives Bailu the choice to keep playing.

Significant themes

• Fear and deception: The illusion and the staged deaths show how appearances can overwhelm reason, even for the group’s more capable members.
• Trust and responsibility: Bailu’s freedom to choose conflicts with Sushang’s concern for her safety.
• Playfulness amid danger: The adults’ prank turns a frightening supernatural encounter into comedy, while still raising questions about Bailu’s bond with A-Zhuo and whether she is safe.

Plot points and events

• Zhang Xiu removes the Heliobus A-Zhuo from Bailu, restoring Bailu’s full awareness. Rather than sealing A-Zhuo away, he and Yaoshi offer to create a living body for her.
• A-Zhuo asks to look like Bailu. They settle on a similar but distinct appearance, making her resemble Bailu’s little sister. Bailu enthusiastically approves, and A-Zhuo takes possession of her new body.
• Bailu and A-Zhuo celebrate their new friendship. Yaoshi has quietly given A-Zhuo’s body some humanity, which should temper her tendency to cause trouble. A-Zhuo is told to play only until nine, then report to the Ten-Lords Commission.
• The group considers the incident resolved. Zhang Xiu contacts Hanya and Xueyi with an account, and the others prepare to leave.
• Yaoshi asks Zhang Xiu to stay and watch the stars with her. On a pavilion, they talk about his past and his dreams.

Character developments and interactions

• A-Zhuo moves from a mischievous spirit to someone given a body, agency, and the chance to belong. Yaoshi’s motherly kindness surprises her, while Bailu immediately welcomes her as a friend and little sister.
• Bailu shows affection and generosity, choosing to preserve her bond with A-Zhuo rather than fear or reject her.
• Yaoshi combines tenderness with practical limits: she gives A-Zhuo a chance at a new life but also guides her toward responsibility. Later, she gently draws Zhang Xiu into a more personal conversation.
• Zhang Xiu admits he once saw himself as ordinary and pursued heroism partly for enjoyment and recognition. Pressed by Yaoshi, he recognizes that beneath those motives his earliest dream was simply “to be a hero.”
• Guinaifen and Sushang react with astonishment and unease, respectively, as the supernatural crisis ends in an unexpectedly gentle resolution.

Significant themes

• Belonging and second chances: A-Zhuo is offered companionship and a place in the world rather than punishment alone.
• Freedom balanced by responsibility: The children are encouraged to enjoy themselves, but within limits and with obligations.
• The meaning of heroism: Zhang Xiu questions whether his actions make him a hero, distinguishing fame and self-interest from the deeper ideal he held as a child.
• Intimacy and honesty: The quiet stargazing scene lets Zhang Xiu share his history openly with Yaoshi, who helps him reflect on who he has become.

Plot and events

• Zhang Xiu, Yaoshi, Himeko, and Liuxue share coffee aboard the Astral Express. Liuxue has learned to make Himeko’s notoriously dangerous brew, but has “improved” it with ingredients such as Big-Eyed Monster Fish. Zhang Xiu and Yaoshi suffer the consequences, while Himeko genuinely enjoys the unusual flavor.
• Himeko asks about Zhang Xiu and Yaoshi’s recent travels. Zhang Xiu recounts their violent encounters on the Xianzhou, including killing Oswaldo and members of the Market Development Department, destroying their fleet, and suppressing Skydeep.
• Zhang Xiu suggests Himeko try ordinary pour-over coffee. She appreciates the idea and sends him to check on Dan Heng.
• Zhang Xiu tricks the absorbed Dan Heng into drinking Himeko’s coffee, then flees with Yaoshi before Dan Heng can confront him. They return to chat and trick him again with coffee disguised as water. Dan Heng summons his spear, but Zhang Xiu rescues Yaoshi and escapes.
• As Dan Heng tries to recover, he discovers Zhang Xiu has also replaced the water in his bottle with coffee.

Character developments

• Zhang Xiu remains mischievous and irreverent, recounting his dangerous exploits casually and repeatedly tormenting Dan Heng with coffee pranks.
• Yaoshi plays along with Zhang Xiu’s antics, dramatically pretending to be harmed by the coffee, but is also left behind during their escape and has to beg for rescue.
• Liuxue has learned to reproduce Himeko’s coffee and experiments with new methods, including a convincing coffee that looks like water.
• Himeko enjoys Liuxue’s brew and responds thoughtfully to Zhang Xiu’s suggestion to return to simple coffee.
• Dan Heng is focused and withdrawn, organizing the Data Bank and quietly wondering about Stelle and March 7th. His composure gives way to irritation after repeated coffee tricks, though he ultimately lets the pair go.

Themes and interactions

• The chapter’s humor comes from dangerous coffee treated as a recurring prank, alongside exaggerated reactions and mock melodrama.
• Zhang Xiu’s casual account of extreme violence contrasts with the group’s relaxed social setting, hinting at the power and moral disorder of the wider universe.
• The interactions show easy familiarity: Himeko gently hosts the group, Zhang Xiu and Yaoshi tease each other and Dan Heng, and Dan Heng’s restrained responses suggest patience strained by their antics.

Summary

Plot and events

• Bored at home, Zhang Xiu considers becoming a streamer. Yaoshi jokes that he should do porn, then suggests appearing on other streamers’ broadcasts.
• Their affectionate conversation turns risqué: Yaoshi proposes increasingly extreme ways to show her love. Zhang Xiu stops her and sets a limit of three “extreme” encounters per month, while trying to keep her impulses in check.
• Yaoshi picks a livestream featuring Hakimi, a Borisin mercenary who calls himself a “Heavenly Lord” and broadcasts himself fighting. Zhang Xiu recognizes him as a member of a brutal, arrogant people among the Denizens of Abundance.
• Hakimi is a low-ranking member of his team, resentful of his treatment and eager to prove his strength. He hopes that finding and praying to Yaoshi will restore the Borisin’s former glory. The chapter ends as he encounters Yaoshi but fails to recognize her.

Character developments

• Zhang Xiu enjoys indulging Yaoshi but also tries to set boundaries, balancing affection with concern about her increasingly extreme behavior.
• Yaoshi is openly devoted to Zhang Xiu and has become sexually bold. Her impulses are linked to her growing humanity and to a new understanding that hurting Zhang Xiu can be compatible with her altruistic Path, since he welcomes it.
• Hakimi is introduced as an insecure, spiteful mercenary whose grandiose self-image masks his low status and whose hopes rest on Yaoshi.

Themes

• Love and consent are framed through playful negotiation and boundary-setting.
• Yaoshi’s humanity creates tension between her former restraint and newfound desires.
• The satire of the Borisin highlights the gap between their boastful claims of superiority and their history of defeat and displacement.

Character interactions

• Zhang Xiu and Yaoshi tease, comfort, and flirt with one another; he physically reins her in, while she repeatedly tests what he will allow.
• Yaoshi proposes their next streaming target, bringing Zhang Xiu’s domestic comedy into contact with Hakimi’s boastful, violent broadcast.

Key plot points and events

• Zhang Xiu and Yaoshi end a war by lifting the battlefield into the air and dropping the invading forces. Beforehand, they use Yaoshi’s power to distinguish unwilling conscripts from genuine aggressors, allowing survivors to remain.
• They broadcast their intervention as the “Burial Heaven Emperor” channel, announce plans to stop wars across the universe, and Yaoshi restores the devastated land. Their rapid interventions make the account go viral—but they finish stopping all active wars within hours.
• The pair encounter a society built around coercion, human livestock, and generations of brainwashing. Rather than destroy the planet, they use Yaoshi’s power to reshape its inhabitants’ values and restore a humane social order.
• Bored and disgusted by some online behavior, Zhang Xiu posts a warning that he will reach people through their internet connections if they livestream evil.
• Their quiet time together is repeatedly interrupted: Liuxue delivers Herta’s request to test the Simulated Universe; then Stelle and March 7th arrive with a cake they found in an Aurum Alley trash can. As Zhang Xiu is finally about to relax again, a mechanical visitor named Lygos arrives to invite him to an experiment.

Character developments

• Zhang Xiu is powerful and decisive, but increasingly restless after quickly resolving the universe’s wars. He prefers to spare people when possible, yet struggles with evils that are disturbing without giving him a clear excuse to punish those responsible. He also shows an impatient, comic side when his private time is interrupted.
• Yaoshi acts as both Zhang Xiu’s partner and a force for restoration, healing ruined environments and using Abundance to reform a deeply corrupted society.
• Liuxue remains deadpan and literal, responding that she would choose “the middle” when Zhang Xiu asks whose side she is on.
• Stelle and March 7th bring their usual odd, casual energy, treating a questionable trash-can cake as a perfectly reasonable offering.
• Lygos is introduced at the end as a new figure whose experiment may draw Zhang Xiu into the next chapter’s events.

Significant themes

• Ending violence versus repairing its causes: Zhang Xiu and Yaoshi stop wars, but their response to systemic oppression goes beyond force to transform society.
• Mercy and moral judgment: They distinguish coerced fighters from genuine aggressors and choose rehabilitation over annihilation when lives can still be saved.
• The risks of imposing change: Yaoshi’s miracle alters people’s values, raising the question of whether profound reform can be justified when a society’s moral order has collapsed.
• Power, boredom, and responsibility: Their extraordinary abilities make intervention easy, but the chapter also portrays the personal restlessness and mundane frustrations that follow.
• Comedy and interruption: Cosmic-scale events contrast with domestic interruptions, awkward jokes, and the recurring cake gag.